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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6266300" data-attributes="member: 27780">Best of Dragon Magazine 1part 4/6Monster Reference Table Addition: They didn't start doing april fools issues until the 80's. However, they didn't need too, as they had more than a few silly articles all year round. Such as this one, detailing a whole bunch of joke monsters based on gamer stereotypes. (and also riffing off the fact that many people mistook the % in lair probability for % chance they would lie to you. ) The game may change, but the personality types remain the same, and so this remains entirely applicable today. (although the hippy jokes will probably need to be replaced with appropriate hipster ones ) It's good to be able to laugh at ourselves, which is another thing that grew scarce in the last few years of the magazine. Miscellaneous Treasure: Following directly on from the last article are the real world based joke magic items, including the ring of wedding, the various levels of magic missile (government surplus) and the dread Bi-labial fricative. More fun but non rules-legal and completely inconsequential stuff that shows just how different their standards for accepting articles were those days, let alone printing them. I find it very interesting indeed that they're putting these in the best of. I suppose as issue 359's top ten list proved, the joke articles are the ones people remember, and talk about again and again. From that perspective, it doesn't seem strange at all. Deserted Cities of Mars: Whatever happened to the Barsoom influence on fantasy? It's pretty much been superseded by later waves of authors, to the point where the attempt at a big budget John Carter movie completely flopped because the public in general had forgotten about it, and the marketing suuuuucked. That leaves this article feeling very much like an anachronism, like the deserted cities within it, a relic of times before the water dried up and the world moved on. I suppose that means if you do use it, no-one'll see it coming, and they might find the strange architecture cool and memorable. So it goes to show how completely some things can fade from the public consciousness, even in the internet age where nearly everything is two clicks away. How many gems from centuries before have been forgotten by all but the biggest libraries and are just waiting for the right revivalist? Monkish Combat in the Arena of Promotion: This article feels somewhat less anachronistic, as Rock/Paper/Scissors style combat remains a common thing thanks to the success of Pokemon. With 8 different attacks, and 10 other manoeuvres, it certainly offers a fair amount of tactical choice, so skill in second-guessing your opponent is critical to winning, even if there are power differences. Since it's a completely disconnected subsystem, and the ability scores that you derive your stats from have remained the same throughout the editions you could use it as a diversion in 1e, 3e or 4e if you felt like it. Funny how that kind of thing works out. Some things seem timeless, while others look terribly dated a few years later, and you can never be sure which is which. Some Thoughts on the Speed of a Lightning Bolt: Ugh. The whole weapon speed and spellcasting time in segments rigamarole. One of the least used bits of rules in AD&D, and quite rightly so, because it slows the game down so very much. It may serve to rebalance the fighter and wizard a little if done correctly, but it's a lot of work for negative extra fun. It fully deserved to be left out of later editions, and likewise, this article can stay mouldering in the vaults to be forgotten. What to do when the Dog eats your Dice: This lighthearted little piece, which suggested using things like mexican jumping beans as randomisers on the other hand, remains just about relevant today. The internet makes it far easier to order custom dice of all kinds, all over the world, and you no longer need to colour them in with crayons, but sometimes, they will go missing just when you need them most. The Tom Wham illustrations really add to it, bringing extra humour in a way they just can't do today, even in the april issues, because it would clash with the current art direction. It's not as if they don't have the talent either, as I'm sure Rich Burlew could pull of something with just as much flavour. I don't know. Getting serious and professional can propel you forward, but it can also become a straitjacket. Excerpt from an Interview with a Rust Monster: Another silly article here, reminding us that adventuring could as easily turn into comedy of errors as it could badass heroics. In fact, it might actually be more common for starting groups, as stories like this continued in the editorials long after they'd vanished from the articles themselves. It also reminds us about Gary's weird love for magical fountains, which I still don't really understand. Why did they play such a big part in the early randomly generated dungeons, other than to make the players paranoid of everything and play cruel practical jokes on them? I suppose that question answers itself, given the other articles in this collection. So this is another good example of the old school spirit in practical action. Sometimes it's just good to be whimsical. Sturmgeschutz and Sorcery: We've had some non D&D RPG stuff. Now for a little wargaming, as they show us how to cross over D&D and Tractics. An excellent example of how they didn't take genre lines or the 4th wall so seriously back in the old days, partly because they didn't have built up settings and audience expectations to upset. So it's highly amusing to go back to Monsters Vs Nazi's with fresh eyes. The monsters won the sample battle, thanks to the element of surprise, but they set the statistics so things could have gone the other way. After all, automatic weapons have pretty impressive ranges compared to D&D spells, and the heavier artillery matches up to fireballs and lightning bolts in terms of damage. Real world technology can be almost as fantastical as magic, especially in these days of internet and iphones. Still, it's probably easier to do it by combining d20 modern and 3e than kitbashing the old stuff. They might have moved away from it in official products, but the rules developments still make it easier to do it in your own game. Funny how that's worked out.</blockquote>

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